"It's easy to believe in magic when you're young. Anything you couldn't explain was magic then. It didn't matter if it was science or a fairy tale. Electricity and elves were both infinitely mysterious and equally possible - elves probably more so." ~Charles de Lint

Validation seeking is all this is. You won't get it from the comments. Nine out of ten people that visit those blogs are bitter because they are unagented and believe that perfection is the only way they will ever attain this goal. To seek out perfection, they will rip apart anything that stands before them just like lobsters in a basket. You will be pulled into the muck which is where they want you to be. I'm not even going to look. Seriously. I already can tell you what they will say. Pre-packaged comments like...

"I'm so confused about this..." and blah blah ramble ramble on about some stupid fucking punctuation error or nitpick over some detail that they don't like because in their minds...they could write better.

Michelle, yes! Do you like the changes? Janice's suggestions led me to this new version of my beginning.

Loralie, I loved your entry, and left a longish comment for you. :) I did make it into the Baker's Dozen. Wonder if my style will make the cut. I've heard Authoress likes a very specific niche. It was worth the try anyway. 16 Agents!